Getting Around

The Overground has become a regular part of many people’s everyday commute from SE23. The air conditioning now seems to work and the service is reliable – but the trains are already packed to capacity in the morning rush hour. We’ve asked Transport for London for load numbers and will be interested to hear how they propose to provide more capacity.

For the moment, we are happy that there appears to be adequate capacity to and from London Bridge on Southern but we will be continuing to monitor the situation.

The success of the Overground has increased the parking problems around both Forest Hill and Honor Oak Park and we will be working with Lewisham Council and residents to see what, if anything, can be done about this.

Lewisham Council accept that the changes made in Sydenham Rise haven’t pleased everybody. There has been displacement of car parking to other less suitable locations, and the coaches that were parking there have moved to a more residential area. In the long term, the solution is to provide a proper footpath on the park side of the road which would prevent visitors to the Museum and the Park having to struggle on an uneven and overgrown surface and the bus build out could be removed. More parking could then be provided without causing an obstruction to the road or compromising pedestrian safety. It is not clear that this option was properly investigated before the changes were made to Sydenham Rise and funding constraints mean that such major changes are not likely to happen soon. However, the Council are investigating whether the yellow lines above the bus build out could be reduced to provide about three more parking spaces and will be pressing TfL to review the pedestrian crossing at the junction with London Road. No major changes are likely in Sydenham Rise in the near future.

TfL has rejected our suggestion that traffic flow on the A205 might be improved by restricting right turns into and out of Devonshire Road. We will, however, be looking at the problems caused by traffic queuing to turn right to get to Perry Vale. A better right turn lane might help here.
Sometimes a relatively simple change makes a big improvement to local transport. A suggestion by a local resident has resulted in the northbound 356 bus stopping at Forest Hill Station. Previously it didn’t stop between Perry Vale and Wetherspoon’s.

If you have any suggestions that you would like the Forest Hill Society to pursue on your behalf, please email andrew@foresthillsociety.com

Forest Hill Pools Update

Mounds of rubble lie on the site of the pocket park. Buddleia sprouts from the superintendant’s house. Thomas Ardwinckle’s Forest Hill Baths are no more. But in late 2012 we will have two new pools, a gym, a community room and a cafe on the site.

Planning permission was granted on 22nd July at Lewisham Town Hall. Concerns remain in a number of areas. Local residents are worried about the impact of pool users parking on surrounding streets. The internal lift is planned to be one person only. The pedestrian versus coach access at the front entrance is confusing and the mass of plant block beside the superintendent's house will probably intrude unattractively on the streetscape.

But in spite of these problems, the Forest Hill Society believes that this is easily the best proposal Lewisham Council has put forward since they first started consulting on the issue in 2005. It is on the better site (not Willow Way!) and we will have two pools (only one was proposed in 2005). The conservationists are in part satisfied by the retention of the superintendent's house which, together with Louise House and Forest Hill Library forms the Victorian “Face of Forest Hill” and behind this façade, we will have a modern facility built to twenty-first century standards.